Naomi Osaka enjoyed a 6-1, 6-4 rout of China's Zheng Saisai on Sunday in herOlympics debut.- The win is an encouraging sign for the Japanese star after she spent two months away from the court.
- After the victory, Osaka said her break from
tennis was "very needed" and that she felt "refreshed."
Naomi Osaka got off to a strong start at the first Olympic Games of her career.
The international tennis superstar and four-time Grand Slam champion readily bested her opening round opponent while representing her native
Osaka served a booming ace down the center of the court on her first point as an Olympian, setting the tone early against the world's 52nd-ranked player. She won the first five games before Zheng could answer back, and had the first set wrapped up in a lightning-fast 32 minutes.
The second set was more competitive, as Zheng wrestled four games away from the 23-year-old hard hitter. But Osaka's third-game break was enough to hold China's star off and kick off her dream of winning Olympic gold.
Check out the highlights below:
The decisive victory is an encouraging sign for both Osaka individually the country she represents, as Japan's superstar has spent nearly two months away from the tennis court. Osaka abruptly withdrew from the French Open after her decision to skip press conferences at Roland Garros in an effort to prioritize her mental health elicited an all-consuming response from both the media and the tournament itself.
She hasn't played since then - that is, until Sunday. And there were no signs of rust.
"The Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a kid, so I feel like the break that I took was very needed," Osaka said after the win, per ESPN. "I feel definitely a little bit refreshed, and I'm happy again."
She'll again take the court at 11 a.m. local time on Monday - or 10 p.m. ET on Sunday - for the second round of the Olympic tournament. Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic, the No. 50 player in the world, is the next challenge Osaka will face on her road to gold.